what be best way to say, "have you had to stay overnight in the hospital before?"

Question

I volunteer as a Spanish interpreter at our local hospital. A frequent question asked when a person is being admitted to a hospital is, " Have you had to stay overnight in a hospital before?" My attempt is "Antes, ha tenido que quedar en un hospita por 24 horesl?" I would appreciate knowing how far from the mark I fall. I wonder if I am being too literal.¿

Answer 1

I'm on medical school... the common way to say it, or at least the way we ask that in Spanish is...

¿Ha estado hospitalizado alguna vez?

Even though it doesn't have the overnight part anywhere, it's usually the way it's asked

Yes, I think is like that! - RobertoSpain, Oct 23, 2010

Answer 2

There are various ways. One possibility is "¿Ha tenido alguna vez la ocasión de pasar la noche entera en el hospital?"

"la ocasión" has a connotation of being a positive thing, like being offered an opportunitiy. It sounds more natural to say "¿Ha tenido alguna vez que pasar..?" - bill1111, Oct 23, 2010

If you change the word order it would work as you intended: "¿Ha tenido que pasar la noche en el hospital en alguna ocasión?" - bill1111, Oct 23, 2010